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Surface Mining – Latest Site News

Latest news 21 November 2011

1. Site on programme – area A void close to overburden completion.
2. Area B currently working cut 4. Two teams running to area A void, 1 team running into backfill in area B with the expectation that we will be able to turn a second team into area B later this week which will leave just 1 team to complete overburden in area A.
3. Coal off site during the last 2 months l averaged 6,500 tonnes a week running to Daw Mill. Coaling from site to date in excess of 300,000 tonnes.

Latest news 19th August 2011

Campaigners against the UK Coal site had constructed living quarters and lookout points at a makeshift camp which was set up in February 2010. They were evicted from the surface mining site and their camp was destroyed, by a team working on behalf of UK Coal on Friday 19th August. Tents and platforms were set on fire, and the protestors escorted from their campsite.

Residents said "The eviction was very quiet, I've not seen anyone leave and there were no police. Residents generally but not exclusively decided that they had had as much as they could with the protestors and wanted to work with UK Coal to get the job done as quickly as possible. The application had already been passed, they couldn't do anything about it, they were a nuisance. They would leave rubbish down the lane and take up parking spaces"

(See also photographs dated 19th August 2011)

Latest news July 2011

The site is on programme with coaling almost complete in Area A. Approximately 250,000 tonnes of coal have been recovered so far.

Two prime movers are now being utilised on site. Coal is being transported off site at a rate of approximately 6,000 tonnes per week.

Four coal seams are being worked including the Flint, Clod Best and Randle.

There has been no discharge of water from the site so far.

Several additional applications for funding from the Community Fund Committee have been received.

Notice to leave the site have been served on the protesters, who had continued to inflict minor damage to the site.

Latest news June 2011

Work continues slightly ahead of schedule at the mine. The first field (southern part of the site) has now been excavated to its full size with protective bunds around its perimeter. Coal is currently being shipped out to Daw Mill in Warwickshire at a rate of about 30 trucks per day. While mining operations do continue on Saturday mornings, no coal deliveries take place.

A new coal crushing machine is working effectively, a hood had been fitted to the hopper to minimise dust. Newt monitoring is now completed and no newts have been found. There has been no need to discharge any water from the lagoons into the local stream system. Signage had been erected at the junction near the site in order to ensure trucks waiting to access the site were not causing any traffic problems for local residents.

There have been a few complaints about the parking of trucks around Dog in the Lane which have been address quickly by UK Coal. For example, one truck was photographed with improperly tied-down cover sheets. The driver was subsequently banned from the site. Trucks are not allowed to overnight less than one mile from the site and occasional reports of this have also been dealt with quickly. Dust and noise monitoring continues to make sure that the planning conditions are being complied with. If you do have any complaints, please address them in the first instance to the site manager Peter Greenwood on 01952 630700.

The first tranche of the community fund (£100, 000) has been received by T&W Council and already over £70,000 has been allocated to worthwhile projects. Once contracts have been agreed between T&W and the various individual bodies, the money will be transferred. Approved projects include:

• Wrekin Trundle
• New surface for Little Wenlock Tennis Courts
• Repairs to the Little Wenlock (St. Laurence) church wall
• Flower boxes in New Works.

We continue to solicit new projects that would be suitable for further tranches of the community fund. If you have any ideas that would improve the local neighbourhood or provide a facility that would be beneficial to local people please do contact any member of the committee for advice or check out the Little Wenlock website. In particular, we would welcome projects from New Works, Huntington and Arleston as being the communities most affected by the mining activities.

Peter Whittle – Chair HSMLC

Latest news 22nd March 2011

The site is working in accordance with the programme. Coal operations were taking place in working cut 11 in Area A. Coal is being extracted in 3 seams.

All of the civil infrastructure work is now in place around the site offices apart from routine maintenance and the coal processing plant is in operation.

All of the coal leaving the site is being taken to our deep mine operation at Daw Mill Colliery.

The lagoons have now been constructed in Water Treatment Area 2 but no water is currently being discharged from site.

Newt fencing is being erected and some vegetation has been cut in advance of operations in area B.

Latest News 19th November 2010

Preparatory works for site are progressing. The first lagoon for water treatment has been constructed and work on the second and third lagoon is ongoing. All the soil stripping has been completed for this year and the majority of this soil has been placed in mounds and has been seeded.

Work on the site infrastructure has commenced and the sub-base for the internal road layout to the site offices and fitting shop has been constructed. A new office complex is currently being built, and should be completed and in use by late January.The majority of the works on the public highway have now been completed including the site access point. There are currently around 35 employed on site.

The bright lights that are on during the night are to improve the security of the site and will remain while the protesters remain a threat. The first coal has been extracted and is being stored on the site. It won’t be transported from the site until the New Year.

Letter to Protestors 9th November, 2010

Dear Protestors,

The scheduled monument at New Works Wood is entitled ‘Coal mining remains 350 m northwest and 520 m north of New Works village’. It fundamentally consists of the remains of a group of spoil tips and former mine shafts located within New Works Wood. There is also a linear bank which is the remains of one of the tramways which traversed the area. A number of old shafts are still visible on the surface, but many of them appear as water filled circular features. There are a number of spoil mounds, the largest located near to the centre of the site.

The key features of the monument, as listed by English Heritage are as follows:

1. a flat-topped tip in the centre and southern part of the site, including the remains of intensive small-scale mining over an extended period of time;
2. an area of former opencut workings in the central northern part of the site;
3. a former tramway leading north from the principal area of shafts and spoil tips to New Works Lane;
4. a group of depressions around NGR SJ66000885 believed to derive from pillar and stall workings in the late Medieval period;
5. a windlass found near a shaft at NGR SJ66260885 which may have formed part of an eighteenth century winding mechanism;
6. a spoil tip at NGR SJ65950891 which includes timbers, ironwork and a concrete platform dating from the late 19th century - also in the vicinity of this feature, shaft mounds and an engine bed believed to represent the remains of 18th and 19th century workings;
7. a group of shaft mounds and shallow depressions in the northwestern corner of the site which may result from trial excavations and coal prospecting.

The mining features within the scheduled area appear to represent intermittent activity over an extended period of time. The scheduled monument description identifies the potential for evidence of later Medieval activity, including the remains of pillar and stall workings.

It is vitally important that the protestors recognise that this is the only scheduled monument within Telford representing the local mining history. The complexity of the site makes it difficult to distinguish many of the individual features and undoubtedly many of the earliest remains will have been removed or obscured by later activity. However, there is sufficient visible evidence to make the overall nature of the site’s history clear and despite some activity in the second half of the twentieth century and evidence of ongoing ground instability, the condition of the archaeological remains is good. Despite some disturbance and ongoing ground instability, these remains form a well-preserved part of what was once a much more extensive landscape of former and active colliery remains in the Dawley area.

This history and the evidence on the ground is what the protestors are damaging with their activities to prevent themselves from being evicted from the site.

Much of the scheduled area was not managed in a farming context though it was grazed by cattle. It has therefore developed a unique ecology especially of plants and trees that colonise old mining sites. This too is being damaged by the protestors. What damage is being done to the trees with all their wires and structures?

UK Coal, in cooperation with the Parish Council, English Heritage, Telford and Wrekin Council and the early members of the Huntington Lane Surface Mine Community Liaison Committee worked on a scheme to enhance the New Works Wood Monument once mining was completed.

This included access improvements to the site including car park provision, more defined rights of way, extensive on-site interpretation boards and a whole range of educational opportunities. UK Coal and Entec have already commenced discussions with the Local Education Authority with respect to collaborative working and the identification of educational opportunities with local schools and colleges, the first meeting having been held in March this year.

The fact that the monument existed saved that area of New Works Wood from being included in the planned working of the surface mine. It has also protected much of New Works village from the surface mine from being even nearer to residents' homes

If parts or the entire monument is damaged by the protestors then we may lose the opportunity to turn this exceptional site into a resource for present and future generations.

We would implore the protestors to think very carefully about what they are damaging. We would ask them to immediately liaise with English Heritage and UK Coal so that an assessment of the damage already done can take place and be repaired and that they do no further damage to this historic site – it is as valuable to us and future generations as a site of mining history as is Stonehenge to megalithic structures.

Yours sincerely,

Parish Councillor Pat Hutchings. Chairman, Little Wenlock Parish Council

Protest Camp on Site June 2010

There has been continuing activity by the “Protesters” within the Surface Mining site, with consolidating camps and digging tunnels.

Concern has been expressed from members of the CLC committee that there are perceived risks associated with the actions of the Protest Group, namely :

• Damage to the archaeological site. English Heritage are to be informed.
• Build up of methane gas within the tunnels, thereby endangering health or even lives. Protesters have been advised of the risk.
• Risk of fire of the coal seams, exposed within the tunnels, from either spontaneous combustion or ignition from lanterns / camp fires. Again protesters have been advised.

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